Shinobi
by OrangeSpark5555
Summary: Following his banishment from the Hidden Leaf Village, Naruto resumes his life as a freelance ninja, after having his Konoha Shinobi license revoked. While this may discourage even the strongest of shinobi, this doesn't stop Naruto, as he forges a path for himself to become a legend.


**Prologue: The Moments Shinobi Live For**

* * *

Within the dark forestry somewhere in the lesser populated areas on the outskirts of the Land of Fire, the leaves were rustling due to the movement of an individual amongst the branches, hopping amongst the trees.

Only small breaths and the sound of nature can be heard during the dead of night, as a dark individual navigated itself around the seemingly large and confined forest. A small flame was seen in the distance producing smoke into the night sky, the source of the flames masked by the lush foliage that was ever-present in the setting. "Target acquired…" The individual muttered to itself as it began to be more wary of its steps, opting to take smaller and cautious steps to attempt to not be detected by whoever or whatever produced the flame.

The individual then stopped and began to take in its surroundings. The sound of laughter and the clinking of glasses could be heard, disrupting the ever so silent midnight breeze. The individual then got to high ground on a larger tree to observe the so-called target it had been assigned to.

It looked down. 'Only a few bandits to deal with, simple enough…' It thought as it grabbed a few small knife-like weapons from a pouch located on its thigh. It seemingly didn't want to sully its katana with such weak opponents, as the individual opted not to use its blade stationed on the left side of its waist.

It jumped down with disregard to stealth, as it seemingly did not care about hiding any longer. The stealth seemingly was only used to collect its thoughts and to scout its opponent… to scout its prey.

"Who are you!" A particularly rowdy bandit exclaimed as he readied his weapons to the unwelcome guest. He seemed to stumble back a bit when the dust started to pick up behind this mysterious individual as the bandit notices a gleam of a blade he knew too well on the individual's hand.

'Is that… a kunai… This guy must be a shinobi!' The man thought in fear as the other 6 bandits began to ready their weapons as well, dropping their drinks and food in the process. The individual nearly smirked as he noticed the rowdy bandit begin to silently panic due to him recognizing the small infamous blade wielded by the silent killers of the night only to be known as shinobi.

"Well, the answer is simple enough gentlemen. You all have been quite a rowdy and unruly bunch over the past few months, terrorizing the nearby town… Quite a problem for them in fact… And I just so happen to be... how can you say this… good at solving these types of problems if you catch my drift." The individual said while twirling his small knife-like blade with one finger.

"Psst!" The bandit mocked. "As if a punk like you can take us all down. It's a fool's errand to try to take down 7 men at the same time! Let's get this kid!" The bandit exclaimed as he bolted forward with tenacity swinging wildly hoping to hit his target eventually. His opponent chuckled as it stood still.

"I'm no fool, but you bunch certainly are…" The individual mumbled to itself as the 7 bandits suddenly all dropped to the ground with cuts on their neck, ending their futile attempt at ending the individual along with their own lives.

As the individual looked down at the result of its actions, all it could do was sigh. It walked up to the now-deceased bandits and took a scroll out of one of its pouches on the side of its thigh and unraveled them. It seemed as if there were symbols upon the inside of these scrolls, most likely indicating that they were sealing scrolls.

It placed it on the ground and began to stack the corpses on top of the scroll. Before it sealed the beings inside the scroll, it put its hands together to say a small prayer to the deceased bandits.

'You might have been my opponent today, but it doesn't mean I can't show respect to you as a human being…' The individual thought as it put its hands together now preparing to seal the bandits into the scroll after the prayer.

A large cloud of smoke appeared after the individual put its hands together and the bodies disappeared as the smoke dissipated, indicating that the bandits were successfully sealed.

The individual let another sigh escape its mouth as it picked the scroll up and put it inside the pouch it got it from. It put out the campfire created from the bandits to reduce the chances of a forest fire breaking out and began to hop from tree to tree after its job was done. It seemed as if it was going to the nearby town, to inform the townspeople of the now-deceased bandits.

"_**It's been three years of doing the same thing, yet it still weighs down on your psyche?" **_A low and rough voice grumbled, deep in the subconscious of this individual's mind. The individual was shockingly not alarmed by this new voice that seemingly appeared from nowhere, as it merely responded with a neutral and professional tone. "It doesn't matter how many times I do it Kurama, I'm still killing people."

"_**Yet you still do it?" **_

"I'm a shinobi Kurama, I don't have a choice in this…" The individual responded with a visually apparent frown on its face. The dim lights of the nearby town began to appear past the foliage of the forest greenery. The individual began to accelerate its pace after having a visual of the town.

It slowed down as the border of the forest was coming closer as it went from a fairly quick sprint to a moderately paced walk. It walked out of the forest seemingly unscathed even after the small albeit quick altercation within the forest. The individual walked towards the town, along a dirt path which leads to a modest location.

"_**Tch, you tell yourself that, yet you still avoid the fact that being a shinobi is merely optional for you now." **_The sinister-sounding being, now identified as Kurama said in a critical tone. The individual continued to the village without a word, as it seemed like it was deep in thought.

"You know that's not the case Kurama… you know I don't have that sort of option available for me." The individual sighed once more while coming ever so closely to the modest village.

The other being known as Kurama went silent, not uttering another word. The individual walked into the town. The town itself was not exactly big, but it wasn't small as well. It was a moderate size with large brick houses which seemed to house more than one person per facility. It was quite similar to the houses found in Kiri, material-wise.

The individual learned from the mayor of this small town, that houses were similar to Kiri's housing architecture due to the town having Kirigakure roots, due to the influx of war refugees from the Kiri civil war migrating to the Land of Fire for safety.

It noted that there weren't many people walking around in the streets or any people on the streets in fact. It seemed like all the lights were turned off within each and every building in the vicinity, showing no indication of any civilians present.

It wasn't exactly surprised by the vacant streets as it chalked it up to the civilians being scared of the now past threat of the bandits and the time of day.

It now set its sight onto the town hall of this very town as it walked towards the semi-large building almost central to the entire town. It seemed to be the only building with a source of lighting, as it saw the small glow of orange or yellow outside of the fairly tinted windows of the facility gleaming past the darkness of the outside.

It walked towards the doors and knocked lightly.

A girl which the individual remembers as the secretary of the mayor, opened the doors to be met face to face with the shinobi their village assigned to the bandit mission. She gasped as she was shocked by how quick this individual finished the job, as she noted down the slight marks of blood on the individual's hands, with no sort of injury found.

"May I come in to talk to Mayor Ito?" The individual said as it looked down to the shorter girl, looking at it, in a way that it could only describe as awe. "Y-Yes...Please come in…" She said as she fumbled on her words and stepped to the side, to allow for the black-clad individual to come in.

"Thank you." The individual mumbled as it walked in and took in its surroundings. The inside of the building was quite plain, only sporting a few decorations such as flower pots and various potted plants, and very few furniture such as couches and chairs. The inside seemed to be a bit unkempt and in disarray though, as papers were strewn about and the furniture was slightly ripped up and damaged. This was due to the oppressing reign of the bandits that used to be nearby.

"Mayor Ito will visit you shortly." The lady informed, as she gave the individual a curt bow and began to walk off to inform the mayor of its presence. The individual took a seat on one of the damaged couches and waited for the mayor to appear. The individual began to ponder to itself.

'It wasn't supposed to be this way…' It thought as its mind began to linger to the words that Kurama had said just a few minutes prior.

"_You still avoid the fact that being a shinobi is merely optional for you now." _It mumbled. The individual sighed as it leaned back and looked at the ceiling of the Town Hall. "I wish it were that easy…"

"It seems that you are quite deep in thought, Shinobi-san." A voice said from across the room. The individual looked up to see Mayor Ito looking at it with an amused smile. The individual got up from the couch and bowed to the man, to show respect in the face of its employer.

Mayor Ito was a middle-aged man, approximately 40 to 50 years old in age. He had dark hair with a grey streak running through some locks of hair. He was around 5 feet 6 in height. He was wearing a black suit with a white undershirt and red tie and black pants with black dress shoes. The clothing was slightly ruffled and had some holes which were patched up, due to it sustaining damage over the years.

"Now, there is no need for such formalities now, Shinobi-san. It seems like you're here to tell me about some good news this evening, no?" Mayor Ito chuckled as he saw the questioning gaze of the shinobi he was talking to.

"Now don't look at me like that. It was quite obvious that you completed the job, as your hands are still bloody from what I assume came from an altercation with the bandit and from what I could see…" The Mayor paused to look at the individual's hands and arms which were firmly stationed by its sides. "There are no injuries on your hands… There are also some bloodstains you have left on the couch from your hands as well…" The Mayor smiled. "Besides, you're coming back to me alive..."

The individual then began to feel a bit guilty as it did not notice that its hands were still dyed red and that it potentially permanently stained the couch. "I'm very sorry for damaging your property sir." The individual bowed once more to show some remorse in its actions.

"Now, now, the couch is already beyond repair, there's no need for apologies, and we're getting quite off track at the moment." The Mayor said as he waved off the shinobi's apology. "I believe you have some bandits to show me."

The individual nodded and took out the scroll that it sealed the bodies into and unraveled it on the ground. It placed its hand on top of the symbols on the inside of the scroll and released the contents of the scroll out of its confines. The three bandits then appeared on top of the scroll.

The Mayor visually lightened up, to see his town's oppressors out of commission permanently. While he was visually content about the town's future prospects he can't help but feel a bit of remorse for the slain beings on the ground. As much as the man wanted the bandits gone, the human inside of him couldn't help but feel sad for them.

"I thank you for your services Shinobi-san, I can't help but feel gratitude for what you have done for our village today." As the mayor thanked the shinobi he hired, by sharing some kind words and shaking the shinobis hand. The individual couldn't help but let out a small smile. The mayor then let go of the Shinobi's hand and began to search the inside of his suit, only to pull out a small envelope.

"Your payment as promised." The mayor said as he handed the Shinobi his well-deserved payment for a job well done. "Thank you." The individual thanked as it took the envelope from the Mayor's hand and placed it in the scroll pouch on its thigh.

"You are welcome to stay here for as long as you like for the time being, and of course, your lodgings within this village will be free of charge." The mayor smiled as he saw the shinobi out of the Town Hall.

"Thank you, I'll be taking my leave for today. I'll be staying in a nearby inn called the Mermaid if you do not mind, sir." The individual said it walked out of the door to the Town Hall.

"Well, would I care to know your name to inform said inn of your arrival there, Shinobi-san." The mayor asked as he gazed at the shinobi.

"_The name's Naruto Uzumaki."_

The individual now identified as Naruto Uzumaki walked off without another word, except for a small wave to say goodbye. The Mayor smiled at the retreating figure and wandered back into the town hall, ready to spread the good news and to finally relax.

Naruto wandered to the nearby inn he found called the Mermaid to stay for the night. While he was as nocturnal as any other in his field of work, he found it inconvenient and dangerous to wander about during the night. It was also a nice bonus that the mayor gave him the option of staying in the inn for free.

He walked at a moderate pace to the inn, he found no reason to rush to the inn in haste. He decided to take in the atmosphere and his surroundings during the walk. While the streets were vacant, and the feeling of the town was a bit dark and gloomy, the town did have its charm. The warm color of the street lights soothed him as the orange lights hit the cobblestone walkways of the village and the streets obtaining a state of calming silence. The silence made it easier to listen to the little chirps of crickets and the night breeze, whistling through the starry night sky.

He finally made it to the inn. It was nothing really impressive. It seemed like any other inn, small yet quite cozy and a nice place to sleep when nothing else is available. While some inns that Naruto has been at have been quite expensive, it was quite fortunate that this time, he did not need to pay.

'Not to mention I'm a bit strapped for cash these past few days…' Naruto thought as he walked into the inn. The inside was warm, due to the cozy fireplace being turned on to heat up the waiting room. The inn was designed a bit like a cottage with the inside feeling like something you would want to stay at during the cold and harsh winters. While some of the furniture was roughed up and some of the paintings were ripped up, the Mermaid inn was still quite nice to the eye.

Naruto walked up to the front desk to book a room for the night. The front desk worker was quite the average man, he was maybe in his late 50's and had slightly greying hair. He had a pair of glasses on and wore a simple grey suit for what Naruto could see.

"Are you here for a room tonight sir?" The man asked while looking at Naruto with a small and welcoming smile on his face. Naruto looked down at the man's name tag, and it read that his name was Shinji. "I am, I believe the mayor has booked me a room for the night?"

Looking through a small letter that he had recently received through a messenger bird a few minutes ago. He raveled it and began reading its contents.

"I have just received a notice from Mayor Ito, that a person named Naruto Uzumaki will be coming in for a room, free of charge. Can I have some proof of identification?" Shinji said while flipping through a small book that kept all the names of the patrons lodging in the inn's rooms. Naruto began to shuffle through one of his chest pouches and pulled out a guild identification card.

Due to popular belief, people believe that missing-nins are ninjas performing jobs without the authorization or permission from a village and any ninja that are executing jobs and are not under a village are missing-nin, but that is not the case. In fact, many ninjas that are not from major villages tend to go the freelance ninja route for a source of income. There are places called guilds where said freelance ninja can grab simple jobs ranging from D-Class to S-Class in difficulty. For these guilds to legally function, they must create identification cards for all ninja who applies for their guild to receive jobs. The jobs they receive also must be looked over by a Daimyo sanctioned ninja to determine whether the job can be done legally or not. While guilds are certainly quite popular amongst the smaller villages, ninjas prefer working in hidden villages due to there being more jobs because the processing is much quicker and there is a steady stream of contracts coming in and there are more benefits to being a ninja under a hidden village. The benefits for hidden village ninja are free medical care, food, shelter, better gear and higher-paying jobs along with many others. These simply are not offered if you are freelance.

"I see," Shinji said while taking a look at Naruto's identification card. He began to write down something in his small handbook of names and handed Naruto a pair of keys. "Your room will be Room 157. I hope you enjoy your stay." Shinji smiled.

"Thank you." Naruto smiled back and walked down the hall to find his room. The hallways were empty once again, it seemed like very few rooms were used, as a deafening silence rang within the halls. 'It seems like everywhere is silent in this town…' Naruto thought while looking over all the numbers plastered on the inn's doors.

"_**Can you really blame them?"**_

"I guess I can't, can I?" Naruto mumbled as he walked down the hall. He made it to his room after a tedious trek down the narrow hallway. He stood in front of a wooden door with a wooden plate plastered on the front reading 'Room 157'. Naruto took out the keys that were handed to him and slid one of them inside the keyhole and twisting it to unlock the door.

The door opened to reveal a small room, reminiscent of a simple bedroom. There was one queen-sized bed in the center of the room, with a small television in front of the bed on top of a drawer for clothing. There was a simple desk beside the tv and a bedside table with a lamp on top of it, with the light on. The room lacked decoration due to the lack of money the business had, so he assumed they simply paid for standard commodities of a regular inn.

"Simple, but adequate," Naruto mumbled as he walked inside and locked the door behind him. He placed his katana against the desk and then he began to take some scrolls out of his side pouch and placed them on the bed, unraveling one to use later.

He wandered off to the washroom and began to wash his face with water. He took a towel to dry off his face after he finished and simply looked at himself in the mirror. "I've aged quite a bit since that day…" Naruto sighed as he looked at himself.

Naruto Uzumaki was a teenager around the age of 17 years old. He was around 5 feet 9 in height and had blond hair. He had a lean but muscular build, due to his rigorous training and line of work. He had ocean blue eyes and a unique set of whisker marks on each side of his cheek. His blond hair was about the same style he had when he was young, albeit without the headband pushing up his bangs.

He was currently wearing an all-black outfit. He wore a black long sleeve compression undershirt, under a black ninja vest which carried many of his small utilities to be used out on the field. He wore a pair of black cargo pants with pouches strapped on each thigh carrying kunai, shuriken, and scrolls. He wore a pair of standard black sandals. He also wore a pair of black fingerless gloves with a steel plate sown on the back, the standard for most shinobi villages.

"_**You don't look that different, to be honest. Still the same annoying brat from day one."**_Kurama chuckled, as he saw the small frown that formed on the young shinobi's face. "Shut up Kurama." Naruto refuted as he walked out of the washroom to change into more comfortable clothing.

He put his hand onto the unraveled scroll and pumped a small amount of chakra into it, releasing its contents. It was a simple black tee-shirt with a fox graphic on the backside and a pair of orange shorts. Naruto began to change out of his combat gear and placed it on the desk within the room to wear the next day. He wore his new clothing and immediately went under the covers for some rest, turning off the lamp after he was comfortable under the sheets.

He soon fell asleep a few minutes afterward.

* * *

_**The Next Day**_

* * *

Naruto woke up to the sun shining through the blinds of the room, hitting his face. The light aggravated him a little, but such inconvenience did not warrant any sort of reaction. Besides, when you are a shinobi, you should be glad that the sunshine is forcing you to wake up, it means that you're alive. A simple commodity that many fallen shinobi before you don't get to enjoy.

Naruto rose up from his slumber and began to stretch out his limbs. He let out a small sigh of content and began to begin his morning routine. He brushed his teeth and took a quick hot shower.

Naruto walked out of the shower feeling refreshed and ready for another day of work. He walked to his combat clothing with the intention of changing, but first took a small spray bottle from one of the front pockets of his vest. It was a bottle of light fragrance that was used to remove the odor from his uniform after a mission or a heavy training session. Because he was constantly on the move, he found it inconvenient to wash his uniform all the time, so this was the best and portable solution.

He gave the clothing a few sprays, and now the uniform didn't smell like a pigsty anymore, it smelled of blueberries, albeit faint. He threw on his uniform, fastened his katana on his waist and sealed his other clothing in the scroll he took it from and left the room after he packed the little amount of stuff he brought out.

Naruto quickly left his room and checked himself out of the inn at the front desk, not sparing any sort of small talk. Naruto left the inn and was surprised to find a bustling street of people enjoying their day. It was nothing like what he's seen last night at all.

"Quite a contrast from yesterday," Naruto mumbled to himself as he walked outside to have a quick breath of fresh air.

"_**It seems like the word has spread that the bandits are gone, "**_Kurama noted as Naruto looked around to see smiling faces of civilians and kids running around and playing with each other without a care in the world. "I'm not surprised. I would feel the same if I was in their position." Naruto responded while a small smile began to rise.

"_**These are the moments you live for, isn't that right Naruto?"**_

Naruto simply smiled after that comment Kurama made and walked to the town hall to tell the mayor that he was leaving soon. He began to wander through the streets of the town, silently admiring the expressions of happiness everyone had on their faces.

"Are you the shinobi that saved us, sir?" A small voice said while he felt a small tug come from the back of his vest. Naruto turned around to see a small little girl with brown hair looking up at him with bright brown eyes and a look of expectation. The crowd seemed to stop moving as they looked at the mysterious individual decked in all shinobi equipment. " I guess you can say that." Naruto smiled as he responded to the little girl that couldn't be any more than 8 years old. The girl seemed to beam with happiness as a bunch of civilians began to gather around him to thank him for his work.

"Thank you, sir, for freeing us from the bandits!" A man exclaimed in joy as he shook Naruto's hand in gratitude. Naruto couldn't help but smile bashfully while sporting a small tinge of pink on his cheeks from the compliments he got from the villagers. "It's not a problem, I was just doing my job." Naruto chuckled sheepishly.

As Naruto was accepting all the thanks and compliments, he wasn't aware of the village leader approaching the crowd of people.

"It seems that you have become quite the celebrity here, Shinobi-san." Mayor Ito chuckled as he saw Naruto drowned in praise by the people he led.

"It seems so, Mayor Ito." Naruto chuckled as he walked over to the man to shake his hand once more. The two shook hands as a sign of respect and let go to resume the conversation. "It seems like you want to talk to me, I assume?" Mayor Ito questioned as he saw the direction of where the shinobi was headed to.

"Ah, yes, I was going to inform you that I will be leaving soon, today," Naruto said with a small smile, as he was still trying to recover from the small influx of compliments he had gotten this morning. After Naruto informed the mayor that he was leaving, he heard a small round of disappointed 'awws' behind him from the villagers. "That's quite unfortunate, we were hoping that you would stay for one more day." Mayor Ito said with a slight tinge of disappointment in his voice.

"Unfortunately, due to my line of work, I can't really be at the same place for too long. The jobs at the guild are quite scarce these days. " Naruto sighed, as he remembers the almost empty job board at the guild he was currently operating under. The mayor sighed as he couldn't fight against it, and decided to just accept the shinobis answer. The villagers seemed a bit downcast but the mayor decided to lighten up the mood a bit.

"Understandable, I guess we'll be giving you a send-off instead of a party, hm?" The mayor joked as the villagers began to follow the shinobi to give him a proper goodbye for saving their livelihoods.

It was a bittersweet ending to something that was really special for the villagers, but they were grateful nonetheless. It could be said that the name, Naruto Uzumaki, would never be forgotten within the walls of the village. Naruto walked off along the dirt path waving goodbye to the villagers he helped merely a day ago. While the moment was insignificant in the eyes of a seasoned shinobi, the sentiment was truly there, fore...

'These are the moments that every shinobi live for…' Naruto thought as he walked down the dirt road, his figure slowly disappearing in the distance, away from the village.

* * *

_**Fin**_

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_**This concludes the first chapter of the new Naruto story that I thought of. This chapter is simply just a small taste of what's to come when the main plot of the story begins to unfold the next chapter. This chapter is to introduce the new Naruto or the Naruto of this universe and to also show the contrast of Naruto's life within the village and his new life now. I hope you enjoy this little story I thought up, and I hope you enjoy my return to fanfiction after a long time!**_


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